‘Youth left to live like cockroaches’: After Satya Niketan tragedy, CJP’s Saurav Das flags ‘PG mafia’, seeks 7-point action plan | Delhi News
NEW DELHI: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has put forward a seven-point list of demands following the Satya Niketan building collapse.The party has called for an independent probe into the wider nexus behind illegal constructions, structural audits of student accommodations and accountability of officials responsible for enforcing safety norms, stating that the larger ‘PG mafia’ needs to be investigated.Speaking to PTI, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said the investigation should go beyond the building owner and examine alleged links between owners of such properties, politicians and people in power who may provide protection to illegal constructions and activities.“We have come out with seven-point demands that we are putting forth to the government,” Das said.“There should be an independent criminal investigation, not just against the owner, but on the larger nexus between such owners and people who are in power, politicians, because of whose protection such illegal constructions and illegal activities proliferate in these areas,” Das added.
Youth left to live like cockroaches: CJP flags ‘PG mafia’, political nexus
Speaking to ANI, Das said the Satya Niketan tragedy had exposed what he described as a larger failure to protect students living in paying guest accommodations.“In the true sense, the people sitting in the government have left the youth to live like cockroaches, and that is why the youth is awake today. They are awakened, they are demanding answers, and when they demand answers, they are given the tag of ‘Naraz Fufa’. They are called ‘Dimagi Naxals’. So, from whom will they demand answers?” he said.Das said CJP had learnt that several PGs were operating in Satya Niketan and claimed that, according to eyewitness accounts, the MCD had put up a notice declaring the building unsafe.Despite this, he alleged, construction continued and students were neither evacuated nor asked to vacate the premises.“Our Cockroach Janata Party team went there yesterday and has been there since then. We are providing whatever help we can with our limited resources,” Das said.
CJP seeks structural audits of student accommodations
The group has demanded an engineering-grade structural audit of buildings, with particular focus on colleges, schools and accommodations where students live, news agency PTI reported.“The government has an obligation to protect them and secure their premises,” Das said, referring to students.The demand comes after the collapse of a five-storey building being used as a student PG in Satya Niketan, which killed seven people and injured several others.The tragedy has also triggered demands for wider audits of old and potentially unsafe buildings being used as PG accommodations and other establishments.
48-hour deadline sought for district committee records
CJP has also demanded that records of the work carried out by 13 district committees constituted after the Hauz Rani fire incident in June 2026 be published online within 48 hours.Das alleged that the committees were tasked with auditing buildings, enforcing safety norms and cracking down on illegal activities and construction, including sealing unsafe buildings.“What work did these 13 committees do? They were supposed to audit all these buildings and enforce and crack down on illegal activities and construction, seal buildings. Nothing of that sort has happened,” he said.He alleged that the committees worked for about a month and subsequently failed to carry out their mandate, PTI reported.
Public database of building safety certificates
As its fourth demand, CJP has sought a publicly searchable database through which students can check whether the premises where they live have received the required safety certificates.The group has also demanded that the government construct more hostels for Delhi University students.“Today’s capacity in DU hostels is 7,000 whereas the student population is in lakhs. So the government needs to construct hostels as well,” Das said.
Rs 1 crore compensation for families of dead
CJP has demanded compensation of Rs 1 crore for the families of those killed in the Satya Niketan collapse and Rs 20 lakh for those injured.The collapse has also intensified scrutiny of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s role in ensuring the safety of student accommodations.Student organisations have demanded accountability from MCD officials, while the Delhi government has ordered a magisterial inquiry and suspended several MCD officials in connection with the tragedy.
CJP seeks ministerial accountability
CJP’s seventh and most important demand, according to Das, is ministerial accountability.He named Ashish Sood, the Delhi government’s urban development, planning and education minister, and said his accountability should be fixed over what happened in the capital.“He cannot go scot-free,” Das added.
‘One collapse exposed bigger disaster-response failure’
In a post on X, Abhijeet Dipke highlighted Delhi’s vulnerability to earthquakes and questioned the city’s preparedness to deal with a large-scale disaster.
Dipke’s X Post
“Delhi sits in Seismic Zone IV, the second-highest earthquake-risk category in India,” Dipke said, warning that a major earthquake could become a catastrophe given alleged violations of safety norms and building regulations.He also pointed to the rescue operation following the Satya Niketan collapse, saying the disaster-response system struggled to rescue people from one collapsed building.“If this is our preparedness for one building collapse, what happens when hundreds come down at once?” he asked.Dipke called for an immediate audit of vulnerable buildings, strict enforcement of safety norms and a review of Delhi’s disaster-response preparedness.The Satya Niketan collapse has already prompted the Delhi government to consider wider structural audits and safety certification for buildings being used as PG accommodations, nursing homes, schools and other establishments.Delhi Police arrested the owner, Hariram. Shortly after his arrest, police also arrested his wife and son.Meanwhile, the Delhi government has suspended five MCD officials over the tragedy.(With agency inputs)
